Efforts to improve academic achievement in the Houston Independent School District paid off on a national stage Wednesday.

At a ceremony in Washington, D.C., Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced that HISD won the coveted Broad Prize for Urban Education. The award comes with $550,000 in college scholarships, plus bragging rights.

HISD beat three other finalists: Cumberland County Schools in North Carolina and the San Diego and Corona-Norco districts in California.

Texas is home to several past winners of the prize, sponsored by the Eli and Edythe Broad (rhymes with "road") Foundation in California. Brownsville ISD won in 2008, Aldine ISD followed in 2009, and Houston's YES Prep won the inaugural charter school award in 2012. HISD was a finalist last year, losing out to Miami-Dade schools.

Frederick Hess, a researcher on the Broad review panel, said Houston is a prime place for education reform.

"You see in Houston a concentration of energy and philanthropy and a commitment to improvement that you can find in other places but you sure can't find everywhere," said Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

Seventy-five of the nation's largest districts were eligible for the award. Researchers analyzed several years of student data and visited schools in the top four districts.

'High expectations'

Broad officials noted several reasons why HISD stood out. Poor and minority students' performance on state exams improved, the district's graduation rate rose, and more students took the SAT college entrance exam and Advanced Placement tests.

Grier, who took charge of HISD in 2009 after leading San Diego schools, has emphasized trying to prepare more students for college. The district is one of few offering the SAT during the school day. HISD also pays the AP exam fees for students.

Duncan noted that HISD pays bonuses to teachers for improving test scores and said Grier made the tough decision to put more struggling teachers on growth plans.

Grier and school board president Anna Eastman acknowledged that HISD has room to improve. While many more students are taking AP exams, for example, less than one-third of the scores in 2012 were high enough to qualify for college credit, according to the Broad data.

HISD's graduation rate, while improving faster than in other urban districts, was 61 percent in 2009 under the Broad calculation, which is tougher than the state's method.

"I don't think this means everything is perfect," Eastman said of winning the prize. "It means we're doing things that are making a difference for kids. People work so hard in our district, and it's really great to be recognized."

Mixed feelings

The scholarship money will go to graduating seniors who show financial need and a record of academic improvement. The students must apply. The payouts will be as much as $20,000 for those going to four-year colleges and $5,000 for two-year colleges. Depending on the distribution, dozens of students should benefit.

"One proclamation from one philanthropist has literally changed lives," Josephine Rice, an assistant superintendent, said after the prize announcement.

Several HISD employees scribbled messages of praise on a long white piece of paper. "Great validation that all of the blood, tears, toil, and sweat are working," wrote one.

Zeph Capo, vice president of the Houston Federation of Teachers union, expressed mixed feelings about the win.

"I'm happy that the hard work of students and teachers and staff are being acknowledged," he said from the watch party. "However, I don't think increases in test scores necessarily translate into increases in real achievement and authentic student learning."